I mean, it was a smashing success, not smashing the idea of success itself.  That would be failure.  Or sabotage, more precisely.  We just had an AWESOME time releasing the second installment of our forthcoming full length last Friday, June 27 at Church in Boston.  We all want to thank Aloud, a ridiculously talented band, for inviting us on the bill, and for not giving us shit for playing that encore, which maybe shaved a little time off their set.  They were very gracious about it, and then proceeded to just obliterate the place with sweet, sweet harmony and muscular hookmaking.  But you know, the crowd was so thick, energized, and LOUD for us, we really couldn't help ourselves.  I think we pulled off an exceptional show,  one that we'll be patting ourselves on the back about for awhile.  We are now 67% finished with the record, which is shaping up to be a monster in our eyes (and by the sounds of the crowd, a few other sets of eyes as well).  We'll post them soon, so as always, check back, or go to www.thesixtyone.com/thelightsout to hear "Money or Time" right now.  And you can even set up an account to listen to all kinds of other great music there as well.  If you like it, you bump it.  If you bump it, it moves up the chart.  Pretty cool system, like a meritocracy or something instead of a bunch of shitheads with expense accounts pulling favors with Clear Channel deciding what sticks.  It's the people who actually listen and buy stuff and go to shows who do it.

Anyway, thanks as always to Jason Dunn from The Luxury (the band) and Mad Science (the studio where we make this stuff) for running lights and running onstage for the last song to stack some killer harmonies on top.  I think there must have been about ten extra people up there for that song.  Great moment!  And of course, most thanks go to everyone who came out in support and helped make it a special night for all of us.  We all did it together!

I haven't had much to say lately, but that's because we're letting the press do our talking, even here on this blog spot (Adam, you absolutely ROCK if you didn't already know it many times over).  The new tracks sound killer, and I'm very pleased with our tenacity and follow through in the face of what turned into a big slog, as we learned first-hand that too many cooks spoil the broth.  Well, we didn't spoil the broth, but we began to see the limitations of a democratic system in action.  A monarch can make quicker decisions, simple as that.  To use another metaphor, it felt like we were laying tracks the way Deep Blue plays chess: scan every possible move out to the power of ten thousand, then actually make a choice.  The trouble with that approach is, humans don't move through all the options nearly as fast as a computer can, and so we got bogged down a few times.  Plus, we added Adam to the mix, and as it was his first time in a serious recording situation, I think everyone had their eyes on him a bit (on top of the fact that just by being there he added 25% more time to the tracking than when we were a three piece.  Or would it be 33%?  I can never keep that shit straight).  Of course, his learning curve is basically a vertical line, so he's now operating at professional capacity with everyone's complete trust.

Then there was our idea of having everyone in the room for everyone's tracking sessions (except Matt, who flies solo when he cuts his parts).  That seemed to work ok for the last record, but again, we were only three, and perhaps more prepared for the studio besides.  This time I felt a little buffeted about between everyone's idea of how to sing it this way or that, and I won't lie, I got close to telling everyone to get the hell out and let me do this the way I know more than once.  But I didn't say it, and my vocal tracks are the better for having held my tongue.  Not to mention that they're still uniquely mine.

And so, finally, we are done mixing and are moving on to mastering (a much less involved process, and one that we will send Jesse and his hypersensitive ears in to handle by himself).  I finally got to sit back and listen to this stuff as music, instead of as a bunch of tracks and plug-ins.  And what do you know?  I honestly think that, as with our last effort, it's the new high water mark for us.  We will drop it on you all shortly (June 27 at Church in Boston!), and we'll see if you agree.

Moving forward, I think we're going to be looking to streamline a bit in order to maintain flow and fun.  To get back to the governance metaphor, it's going to look a lot more like a republic, where you elect someone to represent you, than it is a true democracy, where things can degenerate fairly quickly into bureaucracy if care is not taken to stave it off.  Especially in a band where everyone is so chock full of ideas.  So next time, Matt will continue to cut bass by himself, and Jesse gets to be the assistant producer, making sure things are in key, on tempo, etc.  I don't think we'll be doing the everyone in the room thing again though.  Unlike Deep Blue, we're going back to moving forward by intuitive leap, and trusting in each other's talents enough to say "even if I don't quite understand right now what you're up to, you're in this band because you're good.  Do your thing.  If I still really hate it after a good long audition, we'll talk then".  And above all to remember a breakthrough insight I've finally had, and written in Sharpie and tape on the top edge of my guitar to always remember:  it doesn't fucking matter, so you might as well have a good time.

Words to live by, kids.

Count them in

So here I am in Oregon, NOT practising with the rest of the band and hating it, but also hanging with my old high school buddies and family and loving it.  My thoughts on my hometown of Lincoln City, Oregon are that while it was a dead end place that couldn't be escaped from fast enough (population: 6,000), it's grown a bit in the time I've been in Boston.  Now there's a casino just like every other casino you've ever seen in your life courtesy of the Siletz Indians and whoever specializes in building these things for the various tribes that get the paperwork through city hall.  The billboards on the way into town were advertising Rick Springfield(!) and Neil Sedaka(!!).  I guess we all have the casino circuit to aspire to now, to go back and play in all the little podunk towns that couldn't have drawn anyone better than the Margaritas or Three Guys and a Girl or No Vacancy.  Now it's a boomtown of ten thousand hardy souls and about five pawnshops.  But honestly, this place cleaned up pretty good since I've been gone. 

Still, it will be nice to get back to the real business of assimilating our new guitar player, Adam, into the mix.  Because as it turns out, he's awesome.  We auditoned him (even though I like to think he was on board in my mind before he even picked up the guitar), and he aced it.  In the dark times of wondering what the hell you're doing with your life, sometimes somebody comes along and clicks and reminds you that you're still in the flow of syncronicity.  That's a little melodramatic, because I daresay the three of us were doing good work together, but to have another puzzle piece that fits so well (besides being a great player he also happened to go to college in Syracuse with Jesse, unbeknownst till now to either of them.  They even have a past band member in common) gives it a certain weight over and above just saying, "all right dude, you're good enough.  You're in!"  Adam is more than good enough, and would have been an easy choice without the other things, but those other things iced the cake and  made it cosmically obvious that we're still on a track and not just floating in the void.  So look for four new tracks from the new, improved us by late September.  And welcome aboard, Adam!  I can't wait to get back home and get to work for real, but for now I'll have to satisfy myself with family, old friends, and the best herb West of the Mississippi and North of California.  Hmm.  I guess that will do ok for now.

What the hell, here are the lyrics for the four we posted.  Enjoy!

Make Me

They could have been incredible/He called her unacceptable/It was all she could do to keep on trying/They're grounded, they could have been flying high above the everyday for awhile

Sometimes love is impossible/The obstacles impassable/We're seven times down, eight times up and climbing/You heard me say it, but you deny it/You're deep inside a corner of your mind, far away from the everyday of time

So make me feel like flying/And make me feel like falling/Make me remember

Sensational, invisible/They told her it was terminal/It was all she could do to keep on trying/She's grounded, soon she will be flying

Count Me Out

You really drive me  to distraction/Your hands are firmly on the wheel/Another day we take no action/Another void we didn't fill

You really show me your intentions/You wear them out upon your sleeve/It makes me feel like I'm defenseless, no matter if I stay or leave

If I do and you don't, would you put me down?/If I don't and you do, would you count me out?/If I don't, please don't count me out

You're really wearing out my patience/You want to cry to me again/You make me feel like I want to hit the pavement, but I can't seem to pick a lane

If I do and you don't, would you put me down?/If I don't and you do, would you count me out?/If I don't, please don't count me out/Because I really want to tell you that I love you so

Miss Fortune

She wants to pick a bone/She told me not to leave her alone/I tried to end it on the telephone/She wouldn't listen to me/She keeps calling, calling

I've never been good at being sentimental/I really don't know what I was thinking/She wants a buy, but I treat her like a rental

I've got to take a break/But when she left she didn't go away/There's always just a little more to pay when you get it for free

I've never been good at being sentimental/I really don't know what I was thinking/She didn't buy getting treated like a rental/I really don't know what I was thinking/I never mean it, it happens accidentally

You pulled me off my scheme/I've never been so pleased, but I'm really hoping that we break/It's all a big mistake

Last Hurrah

Some people get a longer fuse/Some people's shoulders are big enough for the abuse/They never say what you can't hear, but when they go they're gone for good, now it's no use

Consider this your last offense/Consider this your last hurrah/Consider what you had to prove/What you were looking for is what you had to lose in me

Some people stay up half the night, worried awake because they're trying to set things right/That doesn't sound a lot like you, but if it ever was, you never did come through

Consider this your last offense/Consider this your last hurrah/Consider what you had to prove/What you were looking for is what you had to lose in me

You're losing me to life out there/I'll see you tonight out there/Consider this your last hurrah

Some people get a longer fuse/Some people's shoulders are big enough for the abuse/They never say what you can't hear, but when they go you're on a string, they cut you loose